12 minute read
2022 FEIBP Congress Report
sustainable
Story and Photos by Katharina Goldbeck-Hörz
It was a warm welcome in Prague. Finally, after three years, it was possible to see each other in person and FEIBP President Andrew McIlroy and Fons Ceelaert gave a warm welcome to the guests and participants of the Congress of European Brushware Manufacturers in the Golden City. Friends from the ABMA and new members of the European Brushware Association, among others from Denmark and Sri Lanka, were warmly welcomed.
Raimon Nosas-Perlon
In his welcoming remarks, McIlroy spoke about the challenges of recent years. “Unfortunately, these developments have greatly diverted us from the way we used to do business. We all lacked the time, production capacity and raw materials to develop new products in the last two years. Innovation continues to be a key driver for our industry, and we are pleased to have three candidates for this year’s Innovation Award despite the many obstacles that have been placed in our way.”
The Borghi team with Peter Langenegger and Mark Samuel
The focus of the congress this year was on the current issues of global development with regard to enormous price increases in several areas. Three years of crisis have demanded a lot from companies — and there is no end in sight to the global economic and political challenges. There are many challenges for the members of the FEIBP. However, as entrepreneurs, they remain focused on their goals, namely to find solutions. Even the years of crisis could not deter their innovative spirit.
The Borghi team with Peter Langenegger and Mark Samuel
Keynote: Andrew Griffiths
“Was there a moment when you realized that climate change was something that would affect you or your children in your lifetime?” With this question, Andrew Griffiths, Planet Mark Director of Community and Partnerships, started his fascinating keynote session and he followed that by saying climate change is affecting us all because we see it and feel it personally. As he said, climate catastrophe is now, not tomorrow or next month. It’s here and now.
Andrew Griffiths, Planet Mark Director of Community and Partnerships
Griffith’s Planet Mark offers a sustainability certification that supports organizations to measure and continually reduce carbon emissions and increase their social impact. He also chairs the Institute of Directors National Sustainability Taskforce and was a member of the U.K. Government’s COP26 Small Business Taskforce, as well as the Advisory Board for the Global Sustainability Film Awards. In his presentation, he spoke about the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the key role it has in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda, and also in the implementation of reforms within the UN system. At the 2015 UN Climate Change Conference (COP 21), the global community voted in favor of a new global climate protection agreement with the Paris Agreement. In total, 197 countries agreed to limit average global warming to less than 2 degrees Celsius — if possible 1.5 degrees Celsius — by 2100, compared to the start of the industrialization era. For individual companies, effective corporate climate action starts with a Corporate Carbon Footprint (CCF). It is the basis for a climate protection plan because it shows how many greenhouse gases a company produces and in which areas most emissions occur. On this basis, reduction targets can be set to reduce the impact of the climate crisis.
Chairman of Hillbrush, Philip Coward
Chairman of Hillbrush, Philip Coward, has been working with Planet Mark for three years and is passionate about the benefits of reducing his company’s carbon footprint. “We have involved all of our employees in the drive to reduce carbon emissions, and it has been imperative that the project has the full support of the company’s directors,” says Coward. “Planet Mark helps us measure our carbon emissions so that we can identify the areas where we can make savings. There are financial as well as environmental benefits to the savings, and we are finding that many of our customers are demanding information regarding our sustainability plans. In some cases, the company’s sustainability record is more important than the company’s product prices. We have a number of ongoing projects to further reduce our carbon emissions such as the reduction of packaging materials, the use of more recycled plastics and the sourcing of raw materials from nearer to the company’s base in the U.K. In addition, the energy usage in all parts of our business is monitored so that savings can be identified. We have installed 450kw of solar PV electricity generating panels and are planning a further installation. I would encourage every company to reduce their carbon emissions, which will make the planet a safer place for our children and grandchildren.”
2022 FEIBP Congress Raw Material Market Reports
Bristle | Reinhold Hörz (DKSH Switzerland Ltd)
Supply Chain Problems
I cannot remember when previously we ever had such huge problems with our worldwide supply chain service providers — be it sea freight or land freight. Everybody was affected by this issue and I have to apologize to my customers for this.
The contradictory situation right now is that on the one side, we along with our customers are still suffering from the above-mentioned delay of lots of containers, but on the other side we can already see increasing stocks and “clearance sales.”
I am seeing this situation in my daily business discussion in all of our business fields. Partly we still have terribly delayed goods, but on the other hand, everyone is reluctant to buy for 2023.
Sea freight costs did go down from 10.000 USD in January of 2022 per 20 feet TCEU to 6.000 USD per TCEU in September from Shanghai to Hamburg. However, we are still at an all-time high for sea freight rates — remember in the past we paid around 1.200 USD.
Additionally, there is a severe shortage of truck drivers all over Europe and land freight transportation charges have doubled.
Market For Filaments And Bristles
First off, for those who are buying in Euros or corresponding currencies, there is a price increase of around 18% depending on the period of time.
Notably, reduced demand has kind of overshadowed the fact that in some items we still have shortages, which are good quality black 51mm in 90 percent tops and long sizes black 89mm and up.
Synthetic Substitution Outlook
Hörz offered the following statement from Wang Yong of DKSH Shanghai on synthetic substitution:
Fine Hair Mark Samuel (Mark Samuel Trading Co.Ltd.)
It will come as no surprise to hear that in a world of rising prices and high inflation, we now see a fall in the price of sable hair, albeit a rather small one! The fall comes on the back of unprecedented large increases over the last three years where we have seen increases of around 100 percent, meaning average prices of Chinese sable going from 4K to 10K, with some longer lengths of European dressed approaching $20K. Unsurprisingly, demand has slackened as buyers look for alternative synthetics and sable mixtures, but certain applications still require the real thing. As mentioned, prices have fallen but this is not only because of weak demand but because of the strength of the dollar against the RMB, and if you’re buying in Euros (or worse Sterling) you won’t notice much of a fall. A further reason for not seeing steeper falls is that supply is still very limited, and it’s unlikely that we’ll see much change in fresh supply when the next season starts this winter.
Squirrel hair prices increased by about 20 percent (more in Euros) and shorter lengths 35-50 mm by even more as demand outstrips supply. Most other types of fine hair have seen small increases as dressing factories close and wages increase. The situation in Russia has had a limited impact as most supplies are not exported directly to Europe but to China.
World Steel Production Holger Kruse (Gustav Wolf GmbH)
All European market participants, including us as private individuals, have become acutely aware of how closely the economy is networked globally down to the last detail. Decades of globalization always had a positive impact and that was the basis of the economic and thus also political orientation of the community of states, ensuring jobs and prosperity in the west, and especially in Central Europe. The external disruptive factors in recent years, be it customs barriers or pandemics, or even currently a war in a previously unimaginable proximity to Europe, have shown all participants the extreme vulnerability of the “global division of labor.” The Europe-wide energy crisis resulting from the Russian war of aggression is certainly the most severe disruption of the entire European economy to date, with significant effects on national GDPs, debt rates, etc. The social consequences are also unknown, with the impact most likely to be seen in the various upcoming national elections. For the steel industry, its processors and consumers, the energy crisis is indeed threatening the very existence of the industry, as gigantic amounts of electricity and natural gas in the terawatt range are consumed here every year. The extreme rise in energy costs is already causing plant shutdowns in all areas of the steel industry, as well as in other energy-intensive industries such as the chemical or building materials industries.
2025 Green Steel Target
The Green Steel project promises an almost 95% reduction in CO2 emissions in the steel industry of as much as 60 million tons p.a. through the use of green hydrogen. In addition to the large investment costs (in the 2-digit billion range), the project is heavily dependent on the power supply in the respective economic zones. Thyssen-Krupp, for example, currently calculates the total energy requirement of its biggest site, Duisburg, at 4.5 TWh. For the conversion to climate neutrality, the energy requirement increases tenfold to 45 TWh! From today’s point of view, there are obviously still many unanswered questions, starting with the technical feasibility to financial viability and availability of resources.
Synthetic Fibers | Andrew McIlroy (Perlon GmbH)
In Europe, we have faced a very turbulent time in the raw material markets for plastic over the past 18 months. In 2021, the raw materials market was dominated by poor availability, long lead times and of course, multiple price increases passed down the supply chain from polymer manufacturers. After a short period of respite towards the end of 2021 and in early 2022, the start of the war in Ukraine again led to a further increase in prices and added further fuel to the fire in the form of skyrocketing energy prices. The high price of energy is now the main justification from polymer manufacturers for further price increases. For processors of polymer — for monofilament extrusion and injection molding, the main issue is the price of electricity. Companies who had fixed price contracts for energy last year are facing up to ten-fold price increases per KWh. This issue is likely to be just as serious as the raw material price issues we faced in 2021. Availability of polymer on the whole has improved this year but it is anyone’s guess as to when pricing may stabilize in the future.
Looking Ahead: Northern Ireland
Alessandro Acquaderni
After two intense days, the 62nd FEIBP Congress ended with an impressive tour through the many architectural areas of the city of Prague. In the night, during the rich gala dinner in the historic Art Deco style restaurant, the key topics and discussion of the event were discussed once again. In a relaxed atmosphere, Ceelaert warmly thanked McIlroy for his commitment. His time as president will end with the 63rd FEIBP Congress in Northern Ireland in 2023. Alessandro Acquaderni is slated to take over as president in 2024 and he indicated that the theme for his term will be John Donne’s “No man is an island” quote. This in reference to the last years of pandemic and crisis and in particular refers to the months of isolation. “Everyone has different skills, and together we could make more of a difference,” he says in his outlook. Donne’s “No man is an island” quote emphasizes the common humanity of people.
Boucherie’s Nico Djonghe and Kris Geldof
Matthias Peveling, Wöhler Brush Tech
